Chapter 120 - The Greatness of Śālagrāma

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Sūta said:

1. Hearing these words, Kārtikeya again asked about the worship of Śālagrāma. O you having penance as your wealth, listen to it again.

Kārtikeya said:

2. O lord, O greatest among the meditating saints, I have heard about all religious practices. O lord, tell me in detail about the worship of Śālagrāma.

The lord said:

3-23. Well, well, I shall tell you what you ask, O you very intelligent one; O dear to me, listen to it. O you noble-hearted Kārtikeya, on a Śālagrāma stone the three worlds with the mobile and immobile always stay together. He who has seen, saluted, bathed and worshipped it, would get religious merit as the fruit, a crorefold more, of sacrifices, and that of the gift of a crore of cows. O child, he who has always drunk the water (flowing) from Viṣṇu’s Śālagrāma, has cutoff the very tormenting stay in the embryo. O son, even he, always attached to passion and without devotion, would become Viṣṇu after worshipping a Śālagrāma stone. The round Śālagrāma stone, when remembered, glorified, meditated upon, worshipped and saluted, destroys a crore (of sins). As the herds of beasts in a forest go (away) through fear on seeing a lion, so sins in large numbers go (away) on seeing a Śālagrāma stone. A man saluting with or without devotion a Śālagrāma stone at the time of its worship would obtain salvation. A man who everyday worships the Śālagrāma stone, has no fear of Yama, so also of death and birth. A man who, in the Kali age greatly devoted, everyday worships the Śālagrāma stone with sandal, water for washing the feet, respectful offerings, offerings of eatables, lights, incenses, unguents, songs, musical instruments and hymns, enjoys for thousands of crores of kalpas in the abode of Viṣṇu. How can those men, my devotees on the earth, have manhood (i.e. birth as a human being) who have devoutly saluted Śālagrāma? Those of my devotees, the most sinful ones, who do not salute my lord, Viṣṇu, are not my devotees, being deluded by sins. Even he, being my devotee, who eats on the Ekādaśī day, harms me, and goes to the Andhatāmisra hell. One should touch my (symbol, the) Phallus. No other purification is told for him. That day which is dear to Viṣṇu, is dear to me. That mortal who would not fast on that day, is a sinner and worse than a cāṇḍāla. O son, I always live in the Śālagrāma stone. The god, being pleased, has given me that place. That fruit which is obtained by worshipping me with thousands of lotuses is obtained, a crore times more, by worshipping a Śālagrāma stone. Those men who have not worshipped a Śālagrāma stone in the mortal world, have not worshipped and saluted me. O Kārtikeya, he who worships me before a Śālagrāma stone, has worshipped me for twenty-one yugas. What is the use of worshipping hundreds of Liṅgas (i.e. my symbols) without devotion to Viṣṇu? If the round Śālagrāma stone is not worshipped, then, O son, offerings of eatables, leaves, flowers, fruits, water, offered to me, is not fit.

24-51 a. Everything in front of a Śālagrāma stone is purified. A man eating the eatables offered to another deity would observe the Cāndrāyaṇa(-vow, i.e. would get its fruit). (But) by eating the eatables offered to Viṣṇu, he would obtain the fruit of a crore of sacrifices. There is no doubt that by means of the water flowing from the feet of god (Viṣṇu), so also by means of the water in a conch, (men) having committed a crore of murders are purified. He who being a devotee of Śiva, would not honour a devotee of Viṣṇu, so also his hater, goes to (and lives in) hell as long as the fourteen Indras (rule). He in whose house a householder rests for a while, drinks nectar for eight ages of Brahmā. Mean men, avoiding Kṛṣṇa’s worship, perish in the painful forest of the mundane existence for thousands of crores of years. By means of worshipping the Liṅgas coming up from Śālagrāma stones, through love, men devoid of Sāṃkhya or Yoga, obtain salvation. That fruit which would be got by seeing crores of my Liṅgas, worshipping or eulogising them, would be (obtained) (just) on (worshipping) the Śālagrāma stone. There are twelve stones coming up (i.e. formed) from the Śālagrāma. Listen to the religious merit of him who worships them daily. The religious merit (obtained by) worshipping thousands of crores of Liṅgas on the bank of Jāhnavī, by living for eight yugas at Kāśī, would be had in one day (by worshipping the Śālagrāma). Then (what would be the religious merit) of a man who would worship it for many (days)? I or deities like Brahmā do not endeavour to measure it. Therefore, O son, my devotees should do devoutly, to please me, the worship of a Śālagrāma stone. At that place where Viṣṇu in the form of a Śālagrāma stone lives, live gods, demons, yakṣas, and the fourteen worlds. That fruit which a man would get by means of all the crores of recitals (of the names) of deities, would be got by the good deed, viz. recital (of the names) of Viṣṇu, in the Kali age. His dead ancestors once gratified with a piṇḍa in front of the Śālagrāma stone live (in Vaikuṇṭha). They cannot be counted. For those men who devoutly drink the water dropping from the Śālagrāma stone, what is the use of drinking thousands of the pañcagavyas (i.e. the five products obtained from a cow)? When an expiation has succeeded after having drunk the water (flowing) from Viṣṇu’s feet, what is the use of (giving) gifts, observing fasts, and properly practising Cāndrāyaṇa vows? What is the use of worshipping crores of other deities for him who fashions an image of Viṣṇu lying in water in a tank? They say ‘Gods have Viṣṇu as their chief’. O son, for the fruit of every religious act, there is a limit. (But) there is absolutely no measure of the fruit of the worship of the Śālagrāma stone. He who gives a stone of (i.e. sacred to) Viṣṇu originating from Śālagrāma to a brāhmaṇa, a devotee of Viṣṇu, has performed hundreds of sacrifices. Even though he stays at home, he has everyday bathed in Gaṅgā. He has bathed at all holy places, and is initiated for all sacrifices. One should do sprinkling with water flowing from a Śālagrāma stone. O Kārtikeya, there are stones in heaven, in the mortal world, and in the nether world. But there is no (other) stone like the Śālagrāma stone. The life of him in the world of human beings, difficult to obtain, who everyday gives a prastha of sesamum is fruitful. He gets that fruit by worshipping a Śālagrāma stone. A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water, a root or so also a blade of dūrvā offered to the Śālagrāma become equal to Meru. A man may be without a rite or having no (religious) act or hymns; but if he has a mark of the disc on his arm, he gets the proper fruit as is told in the sacred texts. All that I have seen in Viṣṇu as destroying affliction, I shall tell you, O son. “O Viṣṇu, where do you stay? What is your prop? What is your resort? O god, how are (can) you (be) pleased? Tell me all that.”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said:

51b-73. O Śiva, I always stay in the stone produced in Śālagrāma. Listen to my names which are there on the chariot-wheel mark. If on the wheel resembling an opening, there is no hole, then that should be known as Viṣṇu, pure and very handsome. That which has a long size, a cavity and many holes, is Pradyumna, having the Sun’s face and of bright lustre. Aniruddha has a yellow lustre, is round and very beautiful, is marked with three lines at the opening, and has a mark of a lotus. God Nārāyaṇa is dark, has a raised wheel of the navel, has long lines, and has a cavity on the right side. One should know that a stone having an opening above, and beautiful, is of the form of Viṣṇu, giving desired objects, salvation, and especially wealth. The highest lord has a white lustre and is endowed with a lotus and a disc. On its surface are a round figure and very many holes. Similarly Viṣṇu is of a dark complexion on the basic, very beautiful disc (like figure). Similarly on the opening, in the middle part, a line is noticed. Kapila, Narasiṃha has a large disc and is very beautiful. He should be worshipped with celibacy; otherwise he creates difficulties. Varāha has strength as his symbol, the two discs are said to be uneven. He resembles a sapphire, has three lines, and is beautiful from (i.e. due to) the navel. That stone which is long, has a golden complexion, and adorned with three lines, is known as ‘Matsya’, and gives the fruit like enjoyments and salvation. Similarly Kūrma is raised, round on the surface, and is filled with a disc (like figure). Marked with Kaustubha, it has a green colour. Hayagrīva has the shape of a horse, and is adorned with five lines, is full of many marks, and on the surface has a blue sign. Vaikuṇṭha has an undivided body, and has mark of a disc and a banner. Similarly on the hole there is a very beautiful line, of the shape of a guñja-fruit. Similarly god Śrīdhara is marked with a garland of wood-flowers; has the form of a kadamba flower, and is adorned with a group of five lines. The round and small one is called Vāmana. It is like the atasī flower, and is adorned with a mark. Similarly the handsome god is dark-complexioned and very lustrous. On its left side there are a mace and a disc, and on the right side of it there is a line. Similarly Dāmodara is big; in its centre is a disc. It resembles dūrvā, is crowded with openings, and has yellow lines. Ananta has many colours, and is marked with various circuits. It is of various forms, and grants all desired objects. He whose face is seen in all quarters and intermediate quarters and above, should be known as Puruṣottama who grants the fruit in the form of pleasures and salvation. That whose Liṅga is seen on the top of a stone coming up from Śālagrāma, is god Yogeśvara (i.e. the lord of abstract meditation), and removes (the sin of) a brāhmaṇa’s murder. Padmanābha is reddish. A lotus is in contact with his face. Due to worshipping him daily a poor man would become rich.

74-83. One should point out one that is marked with a disc, having a golden body, and a collection of rays, full of many golden lines, and adorned with crystal-lustre. A very glossy (stone) gives success; a black one gives fame; a white one burns sins, and gives a father long life and sons. A dark blue one gives wealth; a red one diseases; a rough one gives dejection; and a crooked one causes poverty. One (disc on a stone) should be known to be the Sudarśana; the second (i.e. having two discs) the couple Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa. One should know the third one (i.e. having three discs) to be Acyuta; the fourth one (i.e. having four discs) to be Janārdana; the fifth one (having five discs) to be Vāsudeva; and the sixth one (having six discs) to be Pradyumna; the seventh (having seven discs) to be Saṃkarṣaṇa; the eighth one (having eight discs) to be Puruṣottama; the ninth one (having nine discs) to be the nine modes; the tenth one (having ten discs) of his own nature; the eleventh (having eleven discs) to be Aniruddha; and the twelfth one (having twelve discs) is of the twelve forms. Discs more than these are seen on the stone called Ananta. A broken, cut or broken Śālagrāma does not have a flaw. He should carefully worship that image which is liked by him. He who carries the lord of stones after placing him on his shoulder, would subjugate the three worlds with the mobile and the immobile. Viṣṇu resides there where there is the Śālagrāma stone. The gift (given) there or the muttering of hymn or bathing done there is hundred times superior to that at Vārāṇasī, Kurukṣetra, Prayāga, Naimiṣa and Puṣkara.

84-92. The religious merit there is a crore times more. It gives great fruit at Vārāṇasī. All (such) sins like the murder of a brāhmaṇa that a man commits, are quickly burnt by the worship of Śālagrāma stone. Where there is the deity coming from Śālagrāma stone, and where there is the (deity) from Dvārāvatī, and where there is the union of the two, there is salvation. There is no doubt about this. Celibates, householders, recluses and mendicants should eat the eatables offered to Viṣṇu. No doubt should be raised about it. For its worship no hymns, no muttering, no faith are (necessary). For the worship of a Śālagrāma stone, no eulogy, no formality is needed. The auspicious circle drawn before a Śālagrāma stone, especially (the one drawn) in Kārtika purifies the family up to the seventh (descendant). He who would draw an auspicious circle even of a size of an atom before (the image of) Viṣṇu, with clay or metal-products, and he who observes the worship of the sacred fire for a full year, (the latter) being equivalent to drawing an auspicious circle in Kārtika, come to me. The sin due to cohabiting with a woman not fit to be approached, due to eating what is prohibited, perishes by means of decorating Viṣṇu’s temple. That woman who draws an auspicious circle before (the image of) Viṣṇu everyday, never obtains widowhood for seven existences.